By Scott Westerman – curator@keener13.com
As the Hall of Fame voice of the Detroit Tigers, Ernie Harwell was the soundtrack of Springtime and the Voice of Summer.

When you heard him on the air, it was a sign that a Michigan Winter was truly over. Open your window on a warm Summer evening, and you were likely to hear his voice echoing through the neighborhood, from the radios in countless convertibles, the kitchens in a hundred different fast food restaurants, from garages, living rooms, sailboats, and even during the glorious Summer sunsets on the Lake Michigan beaches. Read more…

By Scott Westerman – curator@keener13.com
I spent the morning WKNR’s Bob Green today. He is the most revered and most humble of the legendary Keener Key Men. And as the years go by, he’s still surprised at how what he calls “a fleeting moment” still resonates with so many of us.

I was in Houston with MSU and was honored to be with my radio mentor. He took me through the city’s neighborhoods, remarking how the town is much more heterogeneous in both geography and demography than most realize. In what we boomers like to call “late middle age”, Bob looks great and is as sharp as ever. Read more…

By Scott Westerman – Curator, Keener13.com

I remember exactly where I was when I heard my first JAM Jingle package. I was program director for WATT in Cadillac, Michigan. Our last jingle package was “Shotgun Heaven” and we were only using one cut.

Like JAM founder, Jonathan Wolfert, I was a huge jingle nut. In 1971, I had the great fortune to work at the same station withKen R. Deutsch, who would become the worlds greatest jingle collector. We swapped probably fifty pounds of Mylar on the seven inch reels that were state of the art for tape recording.Read more…

By Scott Westerman – Curator Keener13.com
He had the job we all wanted, the foot in the door at the greatest radio station in town. In the world that was radio back in the 1960s, the overnight shift was the proving ground, the place where the program director tested new talent, and the assignment from whence stars were often born.

Some loved the lifestyle and made overnights their brand. WJR’s Jay Roberts was one of the most famous, helping us drift off to sleep for over two decades as the captain of “Nightflight 760?.

Jim Jeffries had a different idea. When he came to Detroit from Keener’s Battle Creek sister station, Jim knew that even with WKNR’s highly directional nighttime signal, there were thousands of people out there who depended on the overnight guy to keep them awake and entertained. Read more…

By Scott Westerman – Curator, Keener13.com
As many Keener fans know, 09/09/09 was the date when two big Beatle events took place. The Beatle iteration of the incredibly popular Rock Band video game was released. And the entire Parlophone Beatle catalog was re-released in digitally remastered form.

Those of us who saw the Beatles Love show in Vegas, and bought the associated CD, marveled at the magic that Fab Four producer George Martin, and son Giles Martin, worked. We’ve worked their re-mix of “Get Back” into the Scott Owens Show rotation.

The same attention to detail has been given to the Beatle catalog we all bought as 45s, LPs and CDs over the years.